February 23, 2008 at
11:29 AM

Second full squad workout this morning – position players and pitchers started with fielding drills, and then the hitters took live BP of the pitching staff … The team followed up with conditioning and strength work ... Top prospects Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson will be keeping diaries at Boston.com chronicling their experiences this spring … Lowrie spent a day earlier this month testing new style bats for Louisville Slugger … Rob Bradford reports on his blog that pitching prospect Kyle Jackson has an MLB tattoo on his neck, ink that he got back in the day … We’ve heard more positive comments about Dusty Brown, as Jason Varitek complemented his physical strength, motivation, and bat … Brown, Varitek, and the other catchers partook in catching drills earlier this week where they were required to catch superballs shot at them in rapid succession … NRI Dan Kolb has also received some praise, as Theo Epstein cites him as a low-risk, high reward signing, and a professional pitcher … Chris Carter has impressed a lot of onlookers with his work ethic this spring, reporting to camp in excellent shape and getting to the park early every day … Javier Lopez is focusing on getting lefties out this spring with his slider, after his odd reverse splits in 2007 … Lopez is out of options and may not accept a minor league assignment in April - there's seemingly a position battle between he and Craig Breslow… 2006 27th round pick Brantley New retired from baseball earlier this week … Venezuelan righty Victor Galue was released by the organization … One year deals for the pre-arb players such as Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester are presently in the works ... Theo Epstein stated that he is looking to make a minor move or two to shore up the starting pitching depth ... The Lancaster JetHawks will play three exhibition games against Cal Lutheran, Master’s College, and Antelope Valley College from March 30 – April 1.